Sanitary toothbrush holder and support



y 2, 1951 G. C. PERM 2,553,723

SANITARY TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER AND SUPPORT Filed May 5. 1949 \,42 P76. .5. Z 2.: 2 L1 Z 1,326

JNVENTOR.

BY Z9 3/ 0 2 74 mm vman Patented May 22, 1951 OFFICE SANITARY TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER AND SUPPORT Gladys C. Perna, Allentown, Pa.

Application May 3, 1949, Serial No. 91,176

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to holders and supporting brackets for brushes, and particularly to a sanitary toothbrush holder and support or supporting bracket.

The main object of my invention is to provide means for supporting a plurality of toothbrushes suspended in protected, sanitar condition, with each disposed in an accessible position independently of the others.

Another object is to provide a holder for toothbrushes in the form of a hollow, shiftable receptacle having individual compartments adapted to receive the toothbrushes of a whole family or group individually and enclose them in sanitary condition with a door opening to each compartment for access to each brush individually.

A further object is to have such a holder or receptacle rotatably mounted on a bracket from which it is removable on occasion for cleaning and sterilizing when required.

It is also an object to make a holder or support of the indicated character of plastic or other material which when transparent or tinted facilitates identification of the individual toothbrushes within without opening the compartment doors for inspection of the brushes in the several compartments.

A practical object is, of course, to have such a toothbrush holder or sup-ported receptacle made of plastic which is light and sanitary in construction, easy to clean and convenient to use, and which is ventilated and yet substantially dust free and reasonable in cost withal.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in further detail as the specification proceeds.

In order to facilitate ready comprehension of this invention for a proper appreciation of the salient features thereof, the invention is illustrated on the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, and in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a sanitary toothbrush holder and support made according to the family or group should have one brush each and all the brushes of the family kept apart somewhere in the vicinit of a washstand. Various means have been resorted to for keeping the brushes separate, and yet more or less accessible. However, two requirements for maintaining proper sanitation in connection with a group of toothbrushes is that they should be protected as well as separated, but should, despite any protection provided, be readily accessible individually without using complicated apparatus or sacrificing any desired feature which should be present in such a device. Despite the apparent need for such means, nothing appears as yet to have been generally adopted for the purpose, and thus this still presents a problem which requires solution.

invention and embodying the same in a practical form;

Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same holder and support taken on line 2--2 in Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same device as seen from below in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on line 44 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the compartment doors of the receptacle portion of the device of the foregoing views.

Throughout the views the same reference numerals indicate the same or like parts.

In these days of prophylaxis and sanitation, it is a well-known desideratum to have toothbrushes avail-able in sanitary condition, and one of the requirements is that each person in the Upon considering this problem, it has occurred to me that a special receptacle should be rotatably suspended or supported in accessible position near a Washstand or the like having a plurality of compartments individually closed by independent doors and the whole so constructed that it would provide easy access to any one brush desired which is supported thereby. As a result of such consideration, I have succeeded in producing a sanitary toothbrush holder and support, as generally outlined, which will now be more fully described.

Hence, in the practice of my invention, and referring again to the drawing, a bracket 6 made of plastic or metal or an other suitable rigid material is preferably secured to a Wall 1 by means of screws 8, 8 and provided at the upper end thereof with an integral horizontal arm 9 projecting substantially at right angles therefrom and from wall 1. The free end In of horizontal supporting arm 9 is preferably rounded, but may terminate in any other form desired and within the end the arm is provided with an aperture H adapted to receive an, upwardly-extending reduced pivot stud l2 integral with a relatively larger supporting stud l3 extending rigidly upward from the central area of a flat and substantially hexagonal plate or member [4. Due to the reduced diameter of pivot stud l2, the relatively larger supporting stud l3 thus forms a shoulder I5 at the point where the reduced portion or stud [2 begins, while the latter is threaded at its upper end [6 and normally has a cap nut ll screwed down upon the same and resting upon the upper surface of bracket arm 9, thereby supporting stud l2 and the greater stud l3 and its integrally-connected plate l4 upon the mentioned arm 9.

The mentioned plate It forms a top of a special receptacle depending therefrom and together with said top including a plurality of radiallydisposed partition walls l8, I8, [8, etc., preferably integral with the top plate l4 and at the bottom secured a corresponding bottom plat H3. The

partition walls l8, [8 preferably converge at the center 29, at which point they are secured together, while the bottom I9, like the top H, is preferably integral with the partition walls and may either be molded or cast together therewith or cemented thereto by means of plastic cement when the top, bottom and partition walls consist of plastic. For the latter the 'polystyrenes or cellulose acetate, or the like, may be used, or any other material, or even metal, if so desired, as will be referred to later. In any event, the edges of the top plate l4 overhang the "edges of the bottom plate 19 in due parallelism therewith in order to accommodate a series of individuallyopened doors 2!, 2i, etc. At the corners, however, the bottom plate 19 is provided with integralprojections 22, 22, etc., projecting slightl beyond the corresponding upper corners 23,13 of the top I4, while corresponding pivot pins 2 25 in the upper and lower edges of each door 25 extend through the corners 23 and projections '22 of the mentioned top and bottom, so that one vertical edge 28 of each door forms the hinging back thereof. The upper and lower edges of each door have corresponding small bores, similar to 21, best seen in Figure 5, to receive the pivot pins extending into the upper and lower horizontal plates 14 and i9, which form the top and bottom of the receptacle.

Each door 2| extends a short distance down past the bottom is, but at the'inner hinged edge 26 extends only between the two plates M and I9, so that at the bottom a cut-out portion or recess 28 forms a shoulder 29 resting directly upon the bottom to which it is pivoted, so that the door will pivot upon the projection 22 of the mentioned bottom in each case. In addition to the recess 28 providing the mentioned shoulder 29, each door is also provided at the opposite lower corner with a horizontally-cut-out slot 30 providing a similar shoulder 3! adapted to-rest upon a further projection 32 at each corner of the bottom contiguous with the previously mentioned corner projection 22, the depth of the "slot 30 in each case being suflicient to clear the mentioned second projection 32, while shoulder 35 rests thereon in closed position of the door involved.

The result of such pivotal suspension of each door 2| and the downward projection of the lower end 33 thereof below the bottom 19 is that the door in each case may be opened, as indicated'at 34 in broken lines in Figure 2, but in closed position engages against the edge 35 of bottom it which thus forms a stop therefor in order to determine the closed position of the door, the projection 32 meanwhile becoming engaged in the slot 30 and the shoulder 3i comingto rest on the mentioned projection 32 of the bottom. In each door there is a group of perforations indicated at 36 for ventilating the corresponding interior chamber 31 formed between each pair of "adjacent though divergent, partition walls 18, 18 and the top and the bottom M and [9.

Within each chamber 37 is formed an open slot 38 extending out to the outer edge 35 of each chamber, which at the inner end is widened on one side to form a generally circular enlargement or clearance area 39 in order to allow introduction of the upper shank 56 of a toothbrush, generally indicated at 4! in Figure 4, when the door 2i is opened into the position indicated at 3 1, and even wider in'Figure 2, inasmuch asap-en ing of the door will expose the open end of slot 38 and allow sidewise introduction of shank ii) Rio of the toothbrush and when the latter has been brought into the interior enlarged end 39, the bristles indicated at 42 are turned outwardly to face the door 2d of the chamber by turning the handle 43 to provide the mentioned position of the bristles. As soon as the brush has been inserted, the door 2i may again be closed.

The arrangement is such that when a certain toothbrush is desired to be removed from the device for use, the receptacle as a whole may be rotated into the proper position b hand, so that the particular door 2| leading to the chamber 3? containing the desired brush faces the observer and the door then is opened by placing the finger below the bottom 33 thereof and the brush then partly turned in the inner end 39 of the slot 33 and then pulled toward the observer through slot 35, after which the door may be closed and the brush used to desired extent. After use and proper rinsing or washing, the brush may be introduced into the same chamber again and the door closed upon the same until the next user comes and turns the receptacle to another position for release of another brush from another compartment in the receptacle.

It has been mentioned that the receptacle with its top and bottom, as well as partition walls, and this is also true of the doors 2!, that the Whole may be made of any desired plastic or even metal. If a transparent or tinted plastic is used, the same will facilitate recognition of the individual brush desired without opening the receptacle formed by the top, bottom, partition walls and doors. The receptacle is simply turned until the desired brush is seen within the door and then the door opened and the brush taken out. On the other hand, if a transparent plastic is not used, but an opaque plastic or a metal is used instead for the receptacle, it is still possible to have transparent or tinted plastic doors if desired, but if the latter are also of an opaque nature, they may be entirely or partly colored some distinctive color upon a given specific area thereof which differs from the corresponding colors or areal indications on the other doors, so that each door has a distinctive color in its entirety or upon the restricted area mentioned, in order to facilitate recognition of the proper-door to be opened by each individual in a family for access to his brush. Of course, each brush and receptacle is also identifiable by the exposed handle 43. In addition, it-may be mentioned that although a device which is substantially hexagonal in form has been described, it could also be triangular or square, octagonal or entirely circular, if so desired, the number of chambers being no feature of the invention so long as a plurality thereof are present with partition walls dividing one chamber from the other and .doors pivotally mounted for access to the individual chambers.

From the foregoing it is evident, as described, that a toothbrush may be quickly and conveniently removed from the device andas quickly returned thereto whenever desired, and that thus each toothbrush is maintained in a separate compartment independent-of the other brushes in the device. It is also evident that upon removing the cap nut I! by merely unscrewing the same, the entire device may be removed from the bracket arm 9 and readily cleaned and sterilized as required.

Manifestly, variations may be resorted to and parts and. features may be modified or usedwithout others within the scope of the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim:

1. A sanitary toothbrush holder and support including the combination with a bracket adapted to be secured to a wall and at least one rigid arm extending outwardly from the bracket and having an aperture adjacent the free end thereof, of a receptacle comprising a top with a polygonal outline, a bottom having a similar polygonal outline and both the bottom and top having a similar number of resulting corners thereon, a plurality of partition walls extending radially outward between the top and bottom toward the corners of the latter, individual projections upon the corners of the bottom and the latter having a plurality of slots disposed in the compartments and opening to the edges of said bottom for individually receiving the shank of a toothbrush with the bristle tufts of the latter disposed within the compartment involved, a stud projecting rigidly upward from the intermediate portion of said top and extending through the aperture adjacent the free end of the bracket arm, means on the upper end of said stud resting on said bracket arm and thereby suspending said receptacle thereon by said stud, and a plurality of doors individually hinged between the corners of the top and the projections on the bottom in effective positions to close said compartments individually.

2. A sanitary toothbrush holder and support including the combination with a bracket adapted to be secured to a Wall and at least one rigid arm extending outwardly from the bracket and having an aperture adjacent the free end thereof, of a receptacle comprising a top with a polygonal outline, a bottom having a similar polygonal outline, and both the top and bottom having a simi-- lar number of resulting corners thereon, a plurality of partition walls extending radially outward between the top and bottom from the central portions thereof toward the corners of said top and bottom, projections upon the corners of the bottom and the latter having a plurality of individual slots with enlarged portions at the inner ends thereof and extending in the compartments to the edges of said bottom and opening outwardly to said edges for individually receiving the shank of a toothbrush with the bristle tufts of the latter disposed Within the compartment involved, a stud projecting rigidly upward from the intermediate portion of said top and having a reduced portion extending through the aperture adjacent the free end of the bracket arm, a threaded upper extremity on the reduced portion of said stud extending above said bracket arm, a manually-operated nut screwed upon said threaded upper extremity and restin on said bracket arm and thereby suspending said receptacle by said stud, further projections forming extensions upon the first-mentioned projections at the corners of said bottom, and .a plurality of doors individually hinged between the corners of the top and the first-mentioned corresponding projections on the bottom in effective positions to close said compartments individually and in closed position engaging upon the further projections.

3. A sanitary toothbrush holder and support including the combination with a bracket adapted to be secured to a Wall and at least one rigid arm extendin outwardly from the bracket and having an aperture adjacent the free end thereof, of a receptacle comprising a top with a polygonal outline, a bottom having a similar polygonal outline and both the bottom and top having a similar number of resulting corners thereon, a plurality of partition walls extending radially outward between the top and bottom toward the corners of the latter, individual projections upon the corners of the bottom and the latter having a plurality of slots disposed in the compartments and opening to the edges of said bottom for individually receiving the shank of a toothbrush with the bristle tufts of the latter disposed Within the compartment involved, a stud projecting rigidly upward from the intermediate portion of said top and extending through the aperture adjacent the free end of the bracket arm, means on the upper end of said stud resting on said bracket arm and thereby suspending said receptacle thereon by said stud, a plurality of individual doors hinged in association with each compart-ment between the corners of the top and the first-mentioned corresponding projections on the bottom in effective positions to close said compartments individually, and downward projections upon said doors engaging against the edges of said bottom in closed positions of the doors, the latter having each a recess at one side pivotally mounted upon the first-mentioned projection upon said bottom at the forward portion of each compartment and at the opposite side of the door having a horizontally-cut slot fitting upon the extensions of the further projections individually upon said bottom, in closed positions of the doors.

GLADYS C. PERNA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,129,363 Schreiner Feb. 23, 1915 1,318,428 Young Oct. 14, 1919 1,465,627 Fisher Aug. 21, 1923 1,720,061 Schmitt July 9, 1929 1,882,277 Everson Oct. 11, 1932 

